AND Day 1 - Minneapolis

the room i slept in was surrounded by windows and mirrors. the sun was quick to wake me. next was james, walking in, putting on some crooked still, asking me if i wanted coffee. sam rolled in next, and she made breakfast. a potato, onion, bacon, and swiss scramble. we spent the morning slowly waking up and getting to know each other. they were so generous, so i had another cup of coffee. james had to go to work, so sam decided to devote her day to showing me around town. see what i mean about the generous thing?



james lowered the seat on his bike for sam, and sam let me borrow her bike. we spent most of the day riding around minneapolis. now i know why this city was voted number one for biking. it is easy, flat, accessible, and beautiful! ive never found a city to be so bike-able. i want to live here! there are tons of different people who live here as well: Somalian, African in general, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. i followed sam as she led us downtown to the farmer's market. they had a huge thing of blueberries for $2! and blackberries for $1! and red peppers for $1! It was amazing these prices! i walked out with some creamed cinnamon honey :)



minneapolis is beautiful and green. it is fairly safe and littered with community gardens. it is such an active city.


after the market, we rode on a trail to a bookstore. since i finished my book, i was eager to find another. i wanted a book written by francis schaeffer, but they didnt have any. they did, however, have a book by his son, frank schaeffer. it is his memoir, "Crazy for God." I've only read about 10 pages, but i am excited about this book, about his experience growing up in L'Abri and having parents like the schaeffers. i also purchased mere christianity, even thought i already own it. but i want to read it here, and it's not here.

we rode a few blocks to get cold press espresso and some food. then we headed on the trail to a lake. im pretty sure we rode all the way around it. i didnt get any pictures, because we never stopped riding, but it was beautiful. it was blue, with canoers, and the minneapolis skyline. there were tons of beautiful homes. we suddenly went down a dirt path to the hidden beach, on another lake (land of 10,000 lakes, remember?). there, we sat, read, talked, and got in the water. but not too far in, the water was freezing.


next sam took me to the sculpture gardens. so amazing! one part had a row of trees, and every tree had at least 4 wind chimes in it. and it was so windy! they chimes were so loud and wonderful. next to it was the walker art museum. and guess what! thursdays 5-9 was free admission! so we got to see a lot of cool art.i saw tons of photos i learned about in school. the coolest one to see in person was this one:


we rode home in the dark, and greeted james in the living room. sam made dinner while james and i enjoyed some modern family. sam made pasta with mushrooms.. something ive never really enjoyed but i didnt want to say anything. and you know what? it was delicious! i went back for more.

my eyelids are closing... what a long, adventurous day!